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Sami people experience a wide range of challenges in their dealings with health and social services (Blix 2016). However, little is known so far about the circumstances for disabled people of a Sami background (Huuva 2014). Since previous research has shown that people with disabilities have poorer living conditions and fewer opportunities for social participation than the general population (Kittelsaa, Wik & Tøssebro 2015; Söderström & Tøssebro 2011), it would be reasonable to assume that disabled people of a Sami background may risk marginalisation along both dimensions or have a ‘double disadvantage’ (Wehmeyer 2007). Through narrative analysis of interviews with disabled Sami people, we discuss marginalisation processes faced by this category in their dealings with welfare services. We argue that research based on experiences from ethnic minorities are not sufficient analytical tools to understand the experiences of the Sami people. Rather than experiencing culturalisation (Fuentes 2015), disabled people of a Sami background still experience assimilation mechanisms when communicating with welfare services.

Based on a multi-sited qualitative research study, this article applies a service user perspective when exploring how young service users with mental health problems experience the everyday relationship with service providers. Utilizing theoretical aspects from Institutional Ethnography, the article illustrates how different ruling ‘texts’ coordinate the everyday interactions between service users and professional front-line workers. The article argues that the institutional practice of distinguishing between the formal and informal sphere clashes with the study participants’ individual needs for a symmetrical relationship built on lasting and more personal care relations. The article further discusses the dilemmas of implementing a service relationship that requires the street-level bureaucrat to step outside the bureaucratically and formally defined work assignment to build informal and individual relations to the service users as an official part of their everyday work.

Sami people experience a wide range of challenges in their dealings with health and social services (Blix 2016). However, little is known so far about the circumstances for disabled people of a Sami background (Huuva 2014). Since previous research has shown that people with disabilities have poorer living conditions and fewer opportunities for social participation than the general population (Kittelsaa, Wik & Tøssebro 2015; Söderström & Tøssebro 2011), it would be reasonable to assume that disabled people of a Sami background may risk marginalisation along both dimensions or have a 'double disadvantage' (Wehmeyer 2007). Through narrative analysis of interviews with disabled Sami people, we discuss marginalisation processes faced by this category in their dealings with welfare services. We argue that research based on experiences from ethnic minorities are not sufficient analytical tools to understand the experiences of the Sami people. Rather than experiencing culturalisation (Fuentes 2015), disabled people of a Sami background still experience assimilation mechanisms when communicating with welfare services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the impact of school to work transition support for young disabled adults. We specifically examine the claims of what we have termed the ‘hurdle theory’ of transition support, which dominates Norwegian disability research. The fundamental assumption of this theory is that there is a negative relationship between transition support and employment outcomes. We use a cross-sectional sample of 245 young disabled Norwegian adults to examine this assumption, and find that transition support in the form of labour market programme (LMP) participation is negatively associated with employment outcomes, even when we control for other significant background variables. However, due to limits in our data and the non-arbitrary nature of transition support, we cannot rule out that there might be other explanatory variables that account for this association. Therefore, we also point to other potential explanations of the negative association and research designs better suited to investigate these claims.

Based on a multi-sited qualitative research study, this article applies a service user perspective when exploring how young service users with mental health problems experience the everyday relationship with service providers. Utilizing theoretical aspects from Institutional Ethnography, the article illustrates how different ruling 'texts' coordinate the everyday interactions between service users and professional frontline workers. The article argues that the institutional practice of distinguishing between the formal and informal sphere clashes with the study participants' individual needs for a symmetrical relationship built on lasting and more personal care relations. The article further discusses the dilemmas of implementing a service relationship that requires the street-level bureaucrat to step outside the bureaucratically and formally defined work assignment to build informal and individual relations to the service users as an official part of their everyday work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores pathways into working life for Norwegians with mobility disabilities through a life span approach. Semi-structured interviews were used to gather data from 15 employed individuals with mobility disabilities to gain an insight into their interpretation of events and conditions over the course of their life as either obstacles or facilitators for entrance into employment. We identified three categories of narratives: the ‘straightforward’, the ‘supported’ and the ‘barrier-prone’ path narratives. Higher education appears to be the main facilitator to a smooth transition into employment while certain aspects of welfare service provision are the main impediments. The analysis also demonstrated that barriers to employment do not pertain to isolated events but rather are obstacles that the interviewees experience recurrently over time.

This article investigates the impact of school to work transition support for young disabled adults. We specifically examine the claims of what we have termed the ‘hurdle theory’ of transition support, which dominates Norwegian disability research. The fundamental assumption of this theory is that there is a negative relationship between transition support and employment outcomes. We use a cross-sectional sample of 245 young disabled Norwegian adults to examine this assumption, and find that transition support in the form of labour market programme (LMP) participation is negatively associated with employment outcomes, even when we control for other significant background variables. However, due to limits in our data and the non-arbitrary nature of transition support, we cannot rule out that there might be other explanatory variables that account for this association. Therefore, we also point to other potential explanations of the negative association and research designs better suited to investigate these claims. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article explores pathways into working life for Norwegians with mobility disabilities through a life span approach. Semi-structured interviews were used to gather data from 15 employed individuals with mobility disabilities to gain an insight into their interpretation of events and conditions over the course of their life as either obstacles or facilitators for entrance into employment. We identified three categories of narratives: the 'straightforward', the 'supported' and the 'barrier-prone' path narratives. Higher education appears to be the main facilitator to a smooth transition into employment while certain aspects of welfare service provision are the main impediments. The analysis also demonstrated that barriers to employment do not pertain to isolated events but rather are obstacles that the interviewees experience recurrently over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]